Unit 0Organizational introductionGetting started in the study of phoneticsPrint version of the English Phonetics lecture given on 31 October 2016 / 10 brumaire, an CCXXV de laRépublique

Robert Spence, Angewandte Sprachwissenschaft, Universität des Saarlandes0.1

Definitions

Language: the noises we make with our faces in order to live. (J.R. Firth)

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GoalsThe goals of today’s session are:

1. To gain an overview of what this course is about2. To exchange contact details (email)— LIST!3. To gain an overview of how the course will work4. To complete a brief survey about previous experience5. To gain an overview of some useful resources for the study of phonetics6. To list some guiding principles for the study of phonetics

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1 Course OverviewWhere to find information about the course:

• The course website: http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/phoneticswhich includes the slides asshown in the lectures (and a printable form of the slides as well)

• The course notes (online): http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/phonetics/coursenotes201602/

index.pdf0.4

TimetableWeek Date Unit Description

01 24.x – No Class02 31.x 00 Basic organization03 07.xi 01 Theoretical introduction (1)04 14.xi 02 Theoretical introduction (2)05 21.xi 03 Consonants (1)06 28.xi 04 Vowels (1)07 05.xii 05 Vowels (2)08 12.xii 06 Consonants (2)09 02.i 07 Syllables & Rhythm (1)10 09.i 08 Syllables & Rhythm (2)11 16.i 09 Intonation (1)12 23.i 10 Intonation (2)13 30.i 11 Intonation (3)14 06.ii – Revision15 13.ii – Final Exam

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2 Resources2.1 BooksBooks

You might find some of these useful (active links):Eckert and Barry: The Phonetics and Phonology of English Pronunciation. Trier: WVT, 2005

Arnold und Hansen: Englische Phonetik. Langenscheidt, 1998

Halliday and Greaves: Intonation in the Grammar of English. London: Equinox, 2008

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Beware!1. If you are using an Oxford dictionary to check the pronunciation of an English word, make sure it isan Oxford learner’s dictionary – not the “Concise Oxford Dictionary”!

2. BAD: Concise Oxford Dictionary: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com3. GOOD:OxfordAdvancedLearner’sDictionary:http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com (don’t

forget the ”s”!)4. On a Mac, the Concise Oxford Dictionary is integrated with the operating system. DO NOT TRUST

IT!!5. Beware these…!

WRONG! (words like:) RIGHT!ɛ BET ea BAT æəː NURSE ɜːɛː SQUARE eəʌɪ PRICE aɪ

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2.2 Internet sourcesInternet sources

• Wikipedia: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationales_Phonetisches_Alphabet or: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet

• IPA website: http://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/• An easy place to start: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_chart_for_English• “I want to hear the sounds!”: http://www.lfsag.unito.it/ipa/index.html or: https://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/IPAlab/IPAlab.htm

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2.3 FontsFonts

Make sure you have a Unicode font installed! ... e.g. ...Lucida Grande or Arial Unicode MS orCharis SIL, or Gentium, or STIXGeneral, or the Brill, or ... Check your computer’s character paletteto see which of the fonts on your system actually contain the phonetic symbols (starting at about Unicodecode-point 2500 in hexadecimal notation, just keep on scrolling down until you come to the really strangeletters...) The following fonts are free, and are worth having:

• Charis SIL: http://software.sil.org/charis/• STIX:http://www.stixfonts.org/downloadhere:https://sourceforge.net/projects/stixfonts/• the Brill: http://www.brill.com/about/brill-fonts

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2.4 Copy-and-pasteCopy-and-paste

• http://www.ipa.webstuff.org/ click on: Vowels | Consonants | ... then “COPY & PASTE VERSION”also has links to fonts, keyboards, ... (at top)

• the character picker at: http://people.w3.org/rishida/scripts/pickers/ipa/ (but beware theold-fashioned naming conventions used there: “high” vowel → close vowel; “low” vowel → openvowel)

• another character picker (better terminology, butmayneed frequent refreshing in browserwindow):http://westonruter.github.io/ipa-chart/keyboard/

• A copy-and-paste solution will save you having to type the symbols using your own keyboard; butyou will still need at least one font on your system that has all the phonetic symbols.

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2.5 Keyboard layoutsKeyboard layouts

• Enter phonetic symbols via your keyboard: http://scripts.sil.org/UniIPAKeyboard

• for iPhones: http://tinyurl.com/i-want-ipa

• for Androids look here: http://tinyurl.com/i-want-ipa-android0.11

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2.6 Phonetics programmesPhonetics programmes

• PRAAT: http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/• This one is for geeks *g*• Once you have PRAAT installed on your computer, you have your very own phonetics lab to playwith.

• Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net• You probably already have this.• Audacity can do most of the things you need to know something about for an introductory courseon phonetics.

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2.7 Mobile appsMobile apps (1)

• FrequenSee – Spectrum Analyzer (free) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.DanielBach.FrequenSee&hl=de

• analyzes frequency of sound in real time• allows you to see differences [s] / [f], [i] / [a] / [u], etc.• also available for iPhone (see AppStore)

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Mobile apps (2)

• liveBPM–BeatDetector (relatively inexpensive) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.DanielBach.liveBPM

• detects rhythmic “beat” of drumming (or speaking)• might be useful towards end of course• also available for iPhone (see AppStore).

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The killer app (only for iPhone / iPad)

• Clickon the IPAsymbol, hear the sound:http://www.uvic.ca/humanities/linguistics/resources/software/ipaphonetics/index.php

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3 PrinciplesSome general principles to remember when studying the phonetics and phonology of English

1. Imagine you are training to be a spy, and are going to beworking in England. AGerman accentwouldgive you away!

2. Start with the entire body in its biological and social environment. Sleep in an English-style bed, eatan English-style breakfast, surround yourself with everything English; stand the way English peopledo, walk the way they do, hold your mouth the way they do. Then the sounds will come naturally.

3. Free up your sound-making. Stop being an adult with desires and purposes and intentions. Just bea child and play. Do not let your phonetics be constrained by anything related to language (such asGerman sound patterns, or German sentence patterns, or German ways of organizing ideas, or ...)

4. Find someone to imitate. It should be someone quintessentially English. Abandon your own desiresand purposes and intentions and just imitate the other person.

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4 EnvoiEnvoi

• Don’t forget tohand in your completed survey sheet:http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/phonetics/initialsurvey/index.pdf

• Send me an email if you don’t get one fromme in the next 24 hours.• What do English cricket commentators talk about while English cricketers are having their third teabreak? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znmjnEMqHeg

• See you next week!0.17

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